X-Factor, Oct. 5 – Looking for an All-Arounder

The next ensemble includes Phillip Lomax, Tiah Olliver, Chesi Spriggs, Robert Cruz, Kelly Warner, Austin Simmons, and Nick Voss. Nick wants to put everything he’s learned into this performance, Chesi wants to show she doesn’t just sing, she performs. Phillip plans to seize the moment, and Tiah wants to win over the Nicole and Paula who weren’t impressed with her, going against Simon. Nicole and Paula are still against her, and Simon still thinks she’s very commercial. She notes she wants to be remembered as “the girl with steel eyes,” and maybe that’s where the problem is. She should be wanting to be remembered for her performance.

This ensemble with a lot to prove takes the stage, with Phillip starting them off, singing Feeling High. Chesi brings some surprising blues, and Austin stalks the stage, followed by Tiah, who brings it more than ever, eliciting smiles from Nicole and Paula. Simon loves being right. Kelly is ultra sexy again, and Nick definitely has an X-Factor. He’s not the best singer, but is … exciting. Simon talks about Tiah again. The other judges just want to know how the vocal coach got her to sing on key for once.

The next ensemble includes Rachel Crow, Joshua Maddox, 4Shore, Hayley Orrantia, Illusion Confusion, Caylie Gregorio, De’Quan Allen, and Ellona Santiago. They will be singing I Have Nothing, exciting them. Rachel has difficulties with it, with Savan trying to help her. He knows she’ll struggle to find the right key. Yet, he knows this group has the hardest song. Rachel knows she’s meant to be here.

It’s De’Quan who starts the performance off onstage. He’s somewhat weak, with Joshua not being much stronger. Rachel picks it up and finds what she was missing in her rehearsals, as does Hayley. Ellona has some pies with it, but does struggle to stay in tune. They all combine at the end very nicely. Rachel is nervous, despite thinking she did pretty good.

The last ensemble of the night includes Siamaze Floyd, Jeremiah Pagan, Song Preservation Society, Cesar de la Rosa, Makenna & Brock, The Stereo Hogzz, and Emily Michalak. Makenna still isn’t memorable enough, as she’s called Mackenzie by someone in the group. Brock feels this all has made them closer, and the good news is she now sees that as well. Emily, 12 years old, has cold feet. Makenna tries to help her through it.

It’s the big moment for the ensemble, with Siameze taking center stage first, followed by Makenna & Brock. She’s stronger with her voice than she was in her audition. Emily shows a great voice as well, and that she had nerves for no reason at all. Stereo Hoggz brings it, and so does Jeremiah. Altogether this group has a lot of soul. Emily thinks she did okay, but Simon is seeing her as a wannabe. Nicole asks how many acts they need to lose today, and is told about half.

Tomorrow night, we’ll finish off with the ensembles, and the acts will have one more shot to impress the judges. They’ll then be cut down to the final 32, and split into the four groups, and assigned a judge to mentor them. In this realm, doesn’t it seem like The Voice? That whole mentoring thing certainly leads to it, but I do believe the X-Factor was around longer, and is only new to this country. Either way, I fear that’s what everyone is going to think, that it’s really just a ripoff of The Voice. Interestingly enough, some of these acts would have faired better there, as they have great voices, but not all of them have that magnetic pull with their audience.